After all these years
by iwantliquidluck
Summary: After all these years of insults, anger and hate. Draco never meant to treat her that way. His father did.
1. I'm Draco Malfoy I'm Hermione Granger

**Chapter 1 – I'm Draco Malfoy. I'm Hermione Granger.**

Hermione giggled as she continued throwing leaves up in the air, and making them stay there, so they formed something you could call a 'leaf cloud'.

"Hermione, come back in soon, ok? I've made you some hot chocolate!" Hermione's mother, Jean, called.

"Alright mum, just give me a half hour more!" Hermione called back, too engrossed with tossing more leaves into the air to turn around.

Hermione loved autumn. It was cool, and the leaves were beautiful. It was the perfect season to her: not too hot like summer or spring, and not too cold like winter. As she continued with her leaves, a boy her age, clothed in black, stopped nearby and, after a few seconds, made his way to her.

"What're you doing there?" he asked in a tone that suggested he was amazed by what she was doing.

"Oh – um, I was just…playing. Just trying to see how many leaves I could throw in the air at once," Hermione stuttered, and immediately allowed the whole 'leaf cloud' to fall. She, and her parents, knew by instinct that they shouldn't let anyone else know that Hermione was magical. They felt that other people may be scared, and with good reason. Of course, her parents were delighted to find out that she could enchant objects and things like that, but they weren't sure that they wanted anyone else knowing about it for fear that Hermione may end up being shunned not just at school, but by society.

"You're magical!" the boy exclaimed, his pale face and gray gaze brightening.

"I – what? Of course I'm not! There's no such thing as magic! That's just what you hear in stories," Hermione protested.

"Don't try to deny it. I'm magical too! Look," the boy stared at the pile of dead leaves on the ground and, almost instantly, they levitated, re-forming the 'leaf cloud'.

It was now Hermione's turn to stare in amazement. "You're…you're like me," she whispered, happiness and relief choking her.

"Of course I am!" the boy slightly puffed out his chest proudly, "My parents have been waiting for me, ever since I was born, to show the first sign that I had it in me, magical blood."

"Your parents _knew_ you were magical?" Hermione gasped.

The boy gave her a strange look, as if what she stated was the most obvious thing in the world. "Well, obviously…I'd definitely be magical since both of them are the best wizard and witch in the world! And there's no chance I'd be a squib, my whole family line's been pure, magical blood." As he said this, the boy's face scrunched up in disgust a little bit.

"Your whole family's…magical? And what's a squib?" Hermione asked in a whisper, stunned that there was not only just another kid who was like her, but a whole _family_.

"A squib is someone who's been born in a magical family, but doesn't have magical blood. They can't do magic. And yes, my whole family's magical…isn't yours?" the boy asked slowly.

Hermione shook her head. "My parents are dentists. They work in that building just a few blocks from here," Hermione tilted her head to show which direction the building was in.

"So you're a…" the boy cleared his throat, "A muggle-born?"

"Muggle-born?" Hermione repeated.

"Someone who's been born to muggles, people who can't do magic and haven't the slightest hint that it exists," the boy explained, "My father says muggle-borns aren't truly magical. And neither are half-bloods, people who've been born to only one magical parent. My father says only pure-bloods like us are truly magical and truly deserve a place in our world." While the boy said this, the same scrunched-up and distasteful expression he had on just now came onto his face.

"But what's wrong with being muggle-born? Or being a half-blood? As long as we have magic in our bloods, we're considered magical aren't we? What's the difference between us and pure-bloods? Only our family lines are different, that's all," Hermione questioned, rather defiantly and sadly.

The boy shrugged. "I dunno. That's just what my father says. I honestly don't really see a difference either."

A woman's voice called from some distance away, and the boy looked up. Hermione couldn't hear what the woman was saying, but she knew she was calling the boy's name. The 'leaf cloud' that had been floating in the air all this time dropped to the ground with a soft rustle.

"I've got to go. My mother's calling me," the boy turned to leave, just as a woman, also clothed in black, with blonde streaks in her black hair, appeared. When she saw Hermione, she halted abruptly in her tracks and instead waited for the boy to walk over to her.

"Wait!" Hermione called after him, "What's your name?"

The boy turned and just as he did so, the sunlight caught his blonde hair and he smiled as he replied, "I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy."

Hermione smiled back. "I'm Hermione Granger."

"I'll see you around, Granger?" Draco asked.

Hermione nodded, and Draco turned to go back to his mother.

"Draco…who was that you were talking to?" Narcissa asked sharply.

"She's called Hermione Granger, mum. She can do magic too!" Draco replied enthusiastically.

"Hermione…_Granger_? Aren't her parents those muggles who work in white suits?" Narcissa asked her son.

Draco nodded.

"Why did you talk with someone whose parents are muggles?" Narcissa asked again, her voice not accusing, but worried.

"She's nice, mum…And I don't see why we should discriminate against someone whose parents are muggles. She's just as magical as I am," Draco added.

Narcissa sighed. "You don't yet understand Draco…"

"What don't I understand, mum?" Draco asked boldly.

Narcissa shook her head. "Just don't mention this to your father, do you understand? You are not to tell him about that girl, or that you talked to her," Narcissa ordered firmly. She didn't want Lucius knowing that his pure-blood, perfect son had interacted with a muggle-born. He would be furious.

"Alright, mum," Draco nodded obediently, though he wasn't sure why his mother forbade him from doing so.

In the days that followed, Draco and Hermione met in the nearby deserted park. They would talk about all sorts of stuff, mainly Draco telling Hermione all about the magic world. About the Ministry of Magic, where his father worked, about Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, of the teachers and houses in Hogwarts, of other schools like Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, and many, many different things. And every new thing that Draco told Hermione, Hermione was enthralled by it.

Over time, the two shared a very special and strong bond. Each day Hermione would wake up, looking forward to the time she would spend in the deserted park with Draco. And every day Draco would lie to his parents that he would be going to the park to play by himself, when he was actually dashing there to meet Hermione.

But one day, Draco was very late, and the moment Hermione saw him, she asked, "Draco, what's wrong?"

He had the most morose expression on his face, he was dragging his feet, and his head was tilted downwards. Hermione almost thought she saw a tear stain on his cheek.

"I'm moving," Draco muttered, and his voice was filled with anger.

"M-moving? Where?" Hermione asked, shocked that her closest friend was moving, and most likely would not meet up to see her again.

"Far away. My father's just been promoted at the ministry and he wants to move closer to it, so it'd be more convenient for him. And he says he can't stand living here anymore, being so close to muggles," Draco explained flatly.

Hermione wasn't offended when he said that his father couldn't stand living next to muggles, she'd grown used to it and she knew it was Draco's father who said that, not Draco.

"But…but we'll never see each other again!" Hermione protested.

At this Draco looked up. "Of course we will," he said fiercely, "Next year. We'll get our Hogwarts letters and we'll see each other on the Hogwarts Express. And we'll see each other every day in school from then onwards. We just won't see each other at holidays and anyway it's just a few more months till next year."

Hermione smiled weakly and uncertainly. "But…I'm a muggle-born. How're you so sure I'll get my letter?" she murmured.

Draco placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Trust me, you _will_ get your letter. After all, there're loads of muggle-borns, and half-bloods, at school," he said.

Hermione still kept quiet.

"What, you don't believe me?" Draco asked.

Hermione shook her head. "Of course I do, Draco, it's just that…even if I get a letter telling me to go to a magic school…what if it's not from Hogwarts? What if it's from another school, say, Beauxbatons?" she asked worriedly.

Draco rolled his eyes, feeling more up in his spirits than just now. "Hermione, Beauxbatons is _far_ from here."

Hermione nodded slowly. "That's…that's good to know," she said, still quite softly.

"Cheer up! Come on, we should spend our so-called last day having fun!" Draco smiled and so did Hermione as she nodded.

The two spent the rest of the day running around the park, playing childish games and laughing wildly.

About an hour before they knew that they had to go back to their homes and never see each other again for the next few months, they stopped and rested in the shade of an old oak tree, sighing contentedly.

They sat in silence for several minutes, backs against the bark of the tree.

"What do you think school will be like? As in, do you think the teachers will be nice?" Hermione finally asked, breaking the silence.

"Yup," Draco answered, "Though I did hear that there's this one teacher, Trelawney, who teaches Divinations. Heard she's real weird and loony. I wouldn't exactly trust what she says if I were you. But don't worry though, we won't have to take Divinations till our third year, and that's only if you choose to take it."

"Well, I'll be taking every class. I need the grades, you see," Hermione sighed.

"Hermione, did anyone ever tell you that you're way too hardworking? Honestly, cut yourself some slack," Draco chuckled.

"Well of course I'd want to do the best I can! And it's fun to study, isn't it? Learning new things and all," Hermione replied and Draco rolled his eyes in amusement.

Another few minutes of silence.

"Remember that word you told me about the other day? Mudblood?" Hermione asked, and Draco could sense the worry in her voice.

"Mhmm," Draco answered, eyes closed and head rested against the tree.

"…Do you think the people at Hogwarts will…call me that?" Hermione asked anxiously.

Draco opened his eyes and pushed himself up into a sitting position and gazed at her steadily. "Listen, I'm not very good at this comforting and consoling thing, but just know that in Hogwarts, there're lots of nice people, and there will be the occasional few mean ones. Make friends with the nice ones and ignore the mean ones, you hear me?"

Hermione smiled with relief and nodded. "Thanks, Draco."

Draco was about to reply when he saw Hermione's face contort into yet another worried expression almost instantly.

"Draco…will _you_ ever call me a mudblood?" she asked hesitantly.

"Of course not!" Draco was startled by her question and added, "I'm not exactly like my father."

"I know," Hermione smiled and let out a loud sigh, "School's going to be such an adventure, don't you think?"

Draco snorted in amusement. "Yeah, it sure will."

For the next half hour or so, they sat in silence and closed their eyes, breathing in the calming scent of autumn.

"We should go," Draco murmured after some time, opening his eyes and seeing the sun slowly setting on the horizon.

Hermione opened her eyes and nodded. Both stood up and brushed the dirt off their backs and legs.

"So…I'll see you next year then," Hermione said, trying to mask her sadness.

"Yeah," Draco answered, he, too, trying not to show that he was miserable.

As they gazed into each other's eyes for a while longer, the two of them simultaneously opened their arms and drew the other into a hug.

"I'll miss you," Draco said, the unmasked sadness in his voice now obvious.

"I'll miss you too," Hermione sniffed.

They broke apart and Hermione wiped a tear from her cheek.

"Hey, don't cry," Draco said gently, "It'll just be for a few months. We'll meet up again, and we'll be great friends." Draco beamed encouragingly at her.

Hermione giggled and nodded.

The two of them walked off to their homes, expecting to see the other the following year.


	2. Those moments

**Chapter 2 – Those moments**

It was the beginning of Hermione's final year at Hogwarts. She lay down in her bed, thinking about all her previous years she'd spent in the castle. She smiled as she remembered all the adventures and amazing times she'd shared with Harry and Ron. Till this day she still laughed about the great times they shared, and felt that familiar adrenaline rush in her veins when she thought about their adventures together.

As Hermione continued to think back, she found herself thinking back to the time when she was ten years old, and it was a particularly nice autumn.

At that moment, all she could think about was bittersweet memories of Draco Malfoy.

_ Hermione huddled in her bed, silently sobbing uncontrollably. Draco's words rang loudly in her head, causing more tears to stream down her cheeks and onto her pillow. _

_ "Filthy little mudblood!" came the loud, mocking voice of Draco again. Hermione shook her head to try and get rid of the terrible sound, but to no avail. _

_ How could Draco have called her a mudblood? How could he? He'd said he never would. It was only two years after he said he wouldn't call her that. Why had he changed so much? _

_Ever since their first year at Hogwarts last year, Hermione had noticed that Draco had gotten new friends and seemed to be a complete stranger around Hermione. They barely interacted with each other, other than when Draco would hurl insults at Harry or Ron and Hermione stood up for them. _

_Hermione had never expected Draco to call her a mudblood. He was the first person who ever did._

_Why did he change so much?_

A single tear formed in Hermione's eye and she blinked it away before it threatened to fall and cause more tears to cascade down her face.

Draco lay down on his bed and reflected on his six years he'd been in Hogwarts. They haven't been great, no, but they were…good. In a way. He'd managed to gain his father's respect, which was a rather great achievement considering how cold his father was. _But was it worth it?_ That thought sounded loudly in Draco's head and he thought carefully about it. Was it really worth it?

After all, he'd ended up losing his first, true friend.

_"Draco, I need to talk to you," Lucius Malfoy told his son curtly, and turned to walk to the dining room._

_ "Yes father," Draco answered and followed after Lucius obediently._

_ Draco sat across his father and watched him expectantly._

_ "Listen. I've just got promoted at the ministry. But in order to get further promoted, I need you to help me." Lucius began._

_ Draco nodded. "I'll do my best, father," Draco promised._

_ "Good," Lucius nodded approvingly, "Now, you start school at Hogwarts in a month. I want you to get close to two boys. Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe. Their fathers are what's obstructing me from a promotion. I want you to get information out of their sons. Get them to tell you what their fathers are up to, what their weaknesses and strengths are. And with every new piece of information you get, notify me at once. Also, stay away from other students unless they prove useful to you. You have no need for them. Make friends if you must, but keep it to a minimum. And ONLY pure-bloods and Slytherins, do you hear me?" _

_ Draco took in all this and felt his heart sink. But he nodded obediently as he replied, "Yes, father. I'll do what you ask, and I'll do it well."_

_ Lucius half-smiled. "Excellent."_

_ Draco's father stood up and walked off, his cane held firmly in one hand._

_ Once his father was out of sight, Draco groaned and buried his face in his hands. Only pure-bloods and Slytherins? _

_ "What's so bad about muggle-borns and non-Slytherins?" Draco muttered angrily under his breath._

_ But he knew he had to do this for his father. He should be ready to give up everything else._

Draco frowned as more unhappy memories flooded through his mind.

_Draco watched suspiciously as Hermione, Harry and Ron hurried sneakily out of the castle. _

_ "What're they doing up so late at night?" Draco wondered aloud to himself. Then he suddenly felt a pang of worry and looked closely at the trio. They were heading to somewhere Draco knew as the Forbidden Forest. It was so dangerous, why were they going there? Why was Hermione going along?_

_ Draco thought about all the menacing creatures lurking in the dark forest as he raced after them, out of his common room and out of the castle. _

_ As he followed their trail, he noticed that they'd actually gone down to Hagrid's little hut. Draco knew that they would be quite safe there, but curiosity kept him going. _

_ Minutes later, he found himself peeking in from a window in the small wooden hut. Draco looked closely and saw, on a table where the four of them, Hermione, Harry, Ron and Hagrid, were crowded around, a large egg._

_ As Draco looked more closely, he saw large cracks appearing on the egg and a thin, bony creature crawled out of it. Draco tried to look closer and after a while of squinting, he realized it was a baby dragon. Draco's hand flew up to his mouth to prevent himself from letting out a loud gasp, but his hand knocked on the window ledge instead._

_ Panicking when he saw the four people inside turn their heads to the window where he stood, Draco ran off and back to the castle._

_ He didn't even know where he was going, or why he ended up in McGonagall's office. _

_ "Mr Malfoy? What are you doing out of bed at this late hour?" McGonagall asked, looking at him sternly._

_ Draco grasped for words in his head. "Um…I was awoken by a sound and I went out to take a look and I saw Granger, Potter and Weasley sneaking out of the castle. I followed them for a while and came back to tell you, Professor," Draco lied._

_ "Granger, Potter and Weasley?" McGonagall repeated, bemused._

_ Draco nodded._

_ "Alright, Mr Malfoy, follow me," McGonagall ordered, standing up from her chair and exiting her office. Draco stood rooted to the ground for a few seconds, gathering his senses and trying to figure out what he just did and why._

_ He heard the sound of footsteps echoing in the corridor outside and heard them stop abruptly. Draco stepped out of McGonagall's office and couldn't help but allow a smirk show on his face when he saw the looks on Harry and Ron's faces. Then his gaze shifted a bit and settled on Hermione's face. She looked shocked and hurt at the same time, as if she was wondering why Draco would tell on them and, in particular, her._

_Over the past few weeks, Draco had mustered up the courage to ask Hermione to go to the Yule Ball with him. As far as he knew, she hadn't gotten a date yet. And he'd somewhat reserved himself for her._

_ As he adjusted his robes and headed down to the Great Hall early that morning, he barely noticed anyone else around him. But just as he set foot in the Great Hall, Pansy noticed him and dashed up to him, bursting with excitement._

_ Of course, Draco took no notice and sought out Hermione at the Gryffindor table. There she was. Eating quietly by herself. Harry and Ron weren't there yet. This was the perfect moment for Draco to ask her. _

_ "Draco!" Pansy squealed and she practically flung herself at him._

_ "Wha-Pansy, get off," Draco grunted in annoyance, pushing her off of him, his eyes still fixed on Hermione. _

_ Not in the least discouraged by his obvious expression of annoyance towards her, Pansy continued talking happily. "Draco, what about we go to the ball together? I've got no one to go with, no way am I taking Crabbe or Goyle, and you don't have anyone either. The ball's in a few days, so I figured we should go together."_

_ "Pansy, not now, I'm busy," Draco told her firmly, not hearing what she'd just said._

_ "But Draco, I've been waiting to ask you for _such a long time_!" Pansy whined, tugging on his left arm._

_ "Ask me what, Pansy?" Draco growled, this time fixing his attention on her and feeling anger and impatience build up in him._

_ "To come to the ball with me of course! Didn't you hear what I just said?" Pansy exclaimed, this time slightly disheartened._

_ Draco sighed. Pansy was his friend, though she could be extremely annoying at times, such as these for example. And Draco didn't want to disappoint her. But yet, he'd been working out how to ask Hermione to the ball…Draco pushed the thought out of his mind. Hermione wouldn't agree to it anyway. The past three and a half years, he'd been treating her so badly._

_ "Alright, I'll go with you," Draco shrugged, and slumped down at the Slytherin table._

_ Pansy beamed. "Really? _Great_!" She hugged Draco tightly and he smiled weakly, though inside he was kicking himself and regretting what he just said._

_ Draco watched as the four competitors of the Triwizard Tournament entered the Great Hall with their partners. First came Fleur with her partner, followed by Viktor Krum with his. Draco fought not to show the shock he felt when he saw who Viktor's partner was. She was none other than Hermione: wearing make-up, her hair done up, and wearing a nice dress. She looked beautiful. _

_ Then Draco felt envy stab him when he saw how Hermione's arm and Viktor's arm were linked, and how brightly she smiled. Draco's gaze travelled to opposite him and saw Ron staring at Viktor with the same jealousy in his eyes that Draco felt._

_ "Great. I've got two competitors," Draco thought, though he immediately shook the thought out of his head. It wasn't like he was competing to get Hermione anyway…was he?_

Draco sighed and put his hands behind his head as he lay down on his bed. He shouldn't be thinking so much about Hermione. She had changed, and so had he. She had certainly made new friends, and Draco felt slightly envious of her. She had made new, true friends, while Draco made friends whom he only used to get information, or found annoying. He had to admit, Blaise got on his nerves at times even though he was a pretty good friend.

Absorbed in his thoughts, Draco didn't hear Blaise calling him and didn't even notice until Blaise yanked back the hangings around Draco's four-poster.

"Draco, when will you just _respond_ when someone calls your name?" Blaise asked irritably.

"Sorry," he muttered, sitting up.

Blaise sighed. "Come on, we've got Quidditch practice. And Slytherin needs their amazing seeker." Blaise chuckled and walked out of their dorm.

Draco managed a smile and heaved himself out of bed to change into his Quidditch clothes.


	3. So, we meet again

**Chapter 3 – So, we meet again**

"Bloody weakling…can't even carry his own broom," Draco muttered angrily under his breath as he heaved his own broom, along with Blaise's, who had persuaded him to help him carry it down to the Quidditch pitch, down the staircase.

Due to the weight of both brooms, Draco was walking down the staircase slowly. Without warning, the staircase suddenly jerked and started moving.

"Great," Draco thought bitterly, as he continued walking down the staircase and down the corridor where it stopped. He didn't bother waiting for it to turn back to the corridor he wanted to go to initially, since he knew that would take about half an hour, and he didn't have time to spare.

After a few minutes of walking down the dark corridor, Draco realized he was lost. This was one of the many corridors he'd never been to.

"Well this is a bloody perfect start to the day," Draco growled. He was just about to turn back and go to the staircase when he saw light streaming in from the right some distance ahead of him. Deciding he should take a chance and see if that was an entrance to a corridor he was familiar with, Draco walked towards it, both arms starting to ache from carrying the brooms.

As he turned into the corridor flooded with light, Draco blinked several times to get used to the sudden light after walking in the dark for some time. Then Draco realized the light that lit up the corridor wasn't sunlight at all. The light was a pale blue. _Should've realized that, you idiot._ Draco muttered to himself inside his head. The light was wandlight. Draco looked closer to see who casted the light. He saw the vague outline of someone around his height, so the person was definitely a student. As the figure walked nearer and nearer, Draco turned his head to shield his eyes from the blinding light.

"Malfoy?" Draco heard a contemptuous voice ask.

Draco looked up, eyes still half-closed against the bright light. He couldn't see who the student was, but he knew at once who she was from the voice. "Yes, in fact. And I'd appreciate it if you aimed that light elsewhere instead of trying to blind me," he replied.

"Oh, sorry," Hermione muttered, holding the wand upwards instead of towards Draco's face.

Draco blinked and looked curiously at Hermione. What a coincidence. Just as he was thinking about her. "Say, you wouldn't know how to get to the Quidditch pitch from here, would you, Granger?" Draco asked, trying to sound as if he still despised her, yet was trying to be polite.

"That explains," Hermione said, glancing at the brooms in Draco's hands, and shook her head, "I haven't the foggiest how to get out of here. One moment I was walking out of my common room to get to Trelawney's office to hand in my essay and the next moment I end up in this corridor." Hermione gave a frustrated grunt.

"Well this is all excellent. First I get landed with an extra bloody broomstick and second I'm stuck here with a muggle-born," Draco scowled.

Hermione winced, though Draco didn't notice. He didn't call her a mudblood. "Well, do you know where you got in from, at least?" Hermione asked, slightly desperate, "I don't want to turn my essay in late."

"Yeah, sure I do. It's a rather long distance from here though," Draco added, and smirked, "And since when did _you_ rush to hand in Trelawney's essays on time?"

"Well I certainly don't want to get a lower grade!" Hermione retorted.

Draco scoffed. "You want to get a grade even from a teacher you hate. Typical Hermione," he sneered.

Hermione narrowed her eyes crossly at him. "Least I'm not like _you_, not doing your work at all, failing and dropping out of classes. I'm surprised you even made it through to your last year. Expected you to drop out of school by your fourth."

"What do _you_ know?" Draco hissed, suddenly feeling fury surge through his veins. _What did _anyone_ know? All they saw was a typical Slytherin boy, son of a Death Eater, couldn't bother to care less about school and was most likely on Voldemort's side. They didn't see past that exterior, to the boy who was really just hurting inside because he didn't do well in his work, had people judging him because of his house in Hogwarts and his family, had a father who didn't even really like him, and because of that, had lost the one friend he really cherished. _

Hermione seemed to sense his change in attitude in that moment. For one, he didn't call her a mudblood, and had bothered to actually call her by her first name.

Draco didn't feel his anger ebb away, but he figured he might as well get them out of there. "The exit's this way," he growled, leading the way out from the wand-lit corridor they were in, and turning right. The two of them walked in a tense silence.

After quite a while, Hermione asked uncertainly, "…Malfoy, are you sure you're going the right way?"

Draco halted and turned to look back. _If he had come into this corridor and turned right and saw Hermione, to go back out he would have had to come out of that corridor and…turn _left_. _Draco, thoroughly annoyed with himself, grunted exasperatedly and hit his head on one of the brooms in his hands.

Hermione sighed and shook her head. "Oh please don't tell me we've been going the wrong way all this while!"

Draco drew a deep breath to calm himself, and nodded. He was sure he was already late for Quidditch practice.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me!" Hermione cried, sighing again. "I should've known…shouldn't trust someone like you, who can't keep to their promises obviously can't even find their way out of a place they just came into," she muttered under her breath.

Unfortunately, due to the silence in the corridor at the time, Draco heard clearly every word she said. "And what exactly do you mean by 'can't keep to promises'?" Draco asked scathingly, raising an eyebrow in a menacing manner.

This made Hermione extremely furious. "By that I mean that _you_ told _me_ we would be _great_ friends at Hogwarts! _You _told _me_ that you would never call me a _mudblood_! And just _what_ came out of that foul little mouth of yours in second year?" Hermione burst out, too caught up in her anger that she didn't really realize what she was saying until she said it.

"Well, you don't know _anything_! I wouldn't have avoided you and pretended like you were a complete stranger if my stupid _father_ hadn't been so obsessed with getting his meaningless little _promotion_! I wouldn't have called you a mudblood if my _father_ hadn't told me to only make friends with pure-bloods and Slytherins and to maintain a far distance from any students who didn't have those features! If it weren't for my _father_, we'd be great friends!" Draco retorted heatedly, spitting out his words with hatred. He didn't even expect to suddenly explode like that. It just came out.

Hermione took in what he just said, a look of shock and realisation creeping up on her face. Draco's face turned considerably paler. _Why did he just say that?_

After a minute or so of terribly awkward silence, Hermione murmured, "Um…sorry. I guess I'll just…go off…" She started to inch away, until Draco rested the two brooms on the corridor wall and reached out to grab her wrist.

Hermione almost flinched at the sudden movement and stood rooted to the ground, wand still lit in her other hand.

"Wait. We have to talk," Draco said seriously. He didn't want to; he knew he had to somehow make it up to his team members later on if he missed the whole Quidditch practice, but he also knew that this was a rather important matter.

Hermione nodded. Draco released his grip as Hermione turned to face him. She looked at him expectantly, a signal for him to carry on with whatever he wanted to say.

"Ok, remember how all these years I've been a complete prat and I've been treating you really badly and insulting you and your friends and all?" Draco began.

Hermione narrowed her eyes coldly and nodded slowly.

"Well, um, it wasn't my fault, you see, I wanted to be, um, friends with you, but under the circumstances I simply…_couldn't_," Draco continued, not quite knowing how to put his thoughts into words.

"Meaning…?" Hermione prompted him, raising a brow.

"…Meaning, that I'm…sorry," Draco finally uttered the words.

Hermione's gaze softened. She could sense the sincerity in his voice. "It's alright," she murmured, "You had your reasons."

Draco felt relief wash over him. Hermione had forgiven him. After all these years. "You're…not angry anymore?" he asked tentatively, slightly doubtful that she could forgive him so readily.

Hermione raised a brow. "Honestly? Not exactly. But I don't want to be angry anymore. I've felt this anger for six years, Draco. It's been quite a burden, actually. It feels great to be rid of it," she said, sounding as if saying that was lifting a burden already..

Draco smiled. It was the first time in a long while that he'd smiled so gladly. "Thank you," he breathe out, relief, engulfing him and making his voice thick with emotion.

Hermione shrugged. "Better to be happy than angry," a smile suddenly broke out on her face, "remember the time you told me your father loathed people like me? And he insulted my family? I cried so hard! It was rather stupid to cry, wasn't it? Over something as small as that? Now that we look back."

Draco chortled and nodded, "Yeah." His face contorted into one of hatred. "My father," he spat, "he's the cause of all this. I shouldn't have obeyed his orders in the first place."

"Well, you couldn't have known much better about what you were doing back then; you were so young!" Hermione comforted him.

"I quite knew what I was doing, actually. I knew, at least, that I'd have to stay away from you. And I still obeyed him," Draco snarled.

"Considering your father's a relatively difficult person to please, I understand that. I would've done the same if _my_ father had asked me to do that," Hermione pointed out.

Draco sighed, "I know…I just feel really guilty." Draco smiled again. "And did I mention that in fourth year, I spent weeks just trying to figure out a way to ask you to the yule ball?"

Hermione giggled. "Now that I think of it, it was actually pretty obvious! I mean, if I hadn't thought that you were just trying to find another way to insult me or something, it's pretty obvious since you were staring at me in the Great Hall one morning, and Pansy came up to you."

Draco looked rather embarrassed. Even in the wandlight, you could see his face gain a light-pink tint. He shifted uncomfortably, looking down at his feet. "That obvious, huh?" he asked.

"Yeah," Hermione replied, amused. "Anyway, I probably would've said yes if you asked me. Only this was, Harry and Ron would've killed me! I think back then, I kind of wished you weren't such a cowardly prat and that you'd just come up and ask me already!"

Draco laughed. "So much for suspecting me of devising a plan to insult you!"

"Yeah," Hermione wriggled her nose in distaste, "And I had to go with _Krum_. _Viktor Krum_. He was quite terrible, really, All he talked about was Quidditch. I mean, his character wasn't _bad_, just a bit, well, boring for me at times. And all Lavender could call him was 'Bulgarian Bon-Bon'." She rolled her eyes. Draco knew she disliked Lavender a fair bit.

An unexpected feeling of relief overcame Draco when he heard Hermione say that she thought Viktor was 'terrible'.

"I'll bet Lavender can't be half as bad as Pansy, though," and it was Draco's turn to look disgusted, "She sticks to me like glue. I can't get anywhere without her fussing about my next Quidditch match or exam. It's dreadful."

Hermione laughed, "I thought you liked Pansy?"

Draco stared at her with wide eyes. "_Like Pansy_?" he choked out, "And _I_ thought you weren't good with the insults!"

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry," Hermione replied, still laughing.

"Um…I should get going. I've got Quidditch practice and I'm really quite late…" Draco said abruptly.

"Oh, er, me too. I'll see you around then," Hermione agreed, shuffling towards the entrance that Draco used to enter the corridor.

Draco suddenly got an idea. A mischievous smirk appeared on his face. "Hey, Hermione!" he called after her.

She turned around, "Yeah?"

"It'd take ages to just walk back from here. Like what, twenty minutes?" Draco began, still grinning from ear to ear.

"Yeah…" Hermione agreed, but slowly. She could sense something was up.

"Well, I've got two fairly good broomsticks here, and there're no teachers around so they certainly couldn't deduct points if we just flew our way along this corridor?" Draco suggested, already extending a hand, holding out Blaise's broomstick.

Hermione pulled a face. "Draco, you _do_ know I'm a prefect, right?" Hermione indicated her prefect badge.

He rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, what's wrong with just a little fun? No one will ever find out. And we haven't got all day, you know," Draco added.

Hermione hesitated, clearly tempted to take the broom. She was tentative about flying, but this was a corridor. No great heights to fall from. "Oh, fine," she said, snatching the broom from Draco's hand.

Draco grinned even more and got ready to mount his broom. He was about to take off when he noticed that Hermione was hesitating.

"We could go now, you know…" Draco prompted.

"Sorry, it's just that…well, I haven't flown for a long time.." Hermione told him nervously, uncertain about how to mount her broom.

Draco snorted in amusement and set his broom against the corridor wall. As he walked nearer to Hermione, he noticed that her hand holding the wand was shaking.

"Relax, Hermione! It's just flying a broom. It's not even scary riding it on the pitch, let alone a _corridor_," Draco sighed.

"Well, I'm not such a magnificent, amazing flyer like _you_," Hermione rolled her eyes sarcastically, but her voice was quivering.

"Ok, Hermione, just watch me, alright? And copy me," Draco made sure he got her attention before walking back to his broom, mounting it, and smoothly shooting off several metres and back.

He smirked at the look on Hermione's face; he could tell she was impressed. "Go on, give it a try," he said.

Hermione slowly mounted the broom and kicked off with a yelp. She was going quite fast, Draco noticed, and he was rather impressed too. He mounted his broom swiftly and flew after her. As he caught up with her, he could hear her laughing.

"This is amazing!" she laughed, her hair whipping in the air.

"Not so scary, is it?" Draco asked.

"Of course not!" Hermione replied.

They landed and dismounted when they were much nearer the entrance. "Pretty good," Draco noted, taking Blaise's broom from Hermione.

Hermione looked at him questioningly.

"Flying. You were flying with just one hand on the broom. Good job. You would probably make a pretty good seeker," Draco said honestly.

Hermione smiled. "Thanks," she replied shyly.

Draco grinned. "Well, I'd better be going. See you around," he said, making his way to the Quidditch pitch.

Hermione said a polite goodbye and walked off to Professor Trelawney's class, her head once again full of thoughts of Draco.


	4. Get outta my head

**Chapter 4 – Get outta my head**

Hermione sighed dreamily in Potions class. _The way he looked at me…and his smile…his voice…his eyes…No, stop. I can't keep thinking about him. We just ended up stuck in a corridor, that's all. It was nothing. _

Hermione fought to keep thoughts of Draco Malfoy out of her head. She had to concentrate on class.

"Miss Granger, perhaps _you_ could tell us the third step to brewing the potion I just mentioned?" Snape said challengingly.

Hermione snapped out of her thoughts immediately and looked up to see Snape standing directly in front of her, arms crossed.

"Um…" Hermione mumbled.

"Obviously, you haven't been paying attention. I am appalled, miss Granger. Five points from Gryffindor," Snape whipped around and stalked back to his desk.

"Now, if everyone would turn to page 652 of your textbooks…" Snape was saying, but Hermione found herself drifting off into her thoughts again.

_I've gotten him wrong all these years…I can't believe it. Of course he wouldn't have treated me so badly of his own accord. How, why, would he? _

"Mione, why aren't you studying?" Harry asked later in the day, astonished that Hermione was actually sitting in front of the fireplace, not doing anything at all, especially now that exams were just around the corner.

Hermione looked up at him, distracted still by her thoughts. "Oh, I'm…I'm tired. I don't feel like studying."

"Don't feel like studying? Are you feeling alright, Hermione?" Ron asked, concern smeared on his face.

"I'm fine, Ron…just didn't get much sleep last night. Honestly, you two don't have to worry about me. Go do your own studying…I'm going to the library," Hermione added, standing up from the armchair she was sitting on.

Harry and Ron visibly relaxed when she told them that she was going to the library. "Alright, see you later," Harry said, heading to the study table in the common room, along with Ron.

Hermione smiled and nodded, climbing out of the portrait hole and making her way to the library.

Her head still packed with thoughts about Draco, she didn't quite know where her feet were leading her. Before she knew it, she ended up climbing up the steps to the Astronomy Tower, strangely.

"What in the _world_ am I doing? I've got to stop thinking about him," Hermione muttered angrily to herself as she walked to the balcony of the tower.

"Hm, looks like we just keep bumping into each other, eh?"

Hermione jumped at the sudden voice behind her. Draco was walking towards her. He'd already been up here before her.

"Oh…hi," she said, trying to smile.

"And do you have this habit of talking to yourself or something? You seem to do that a lot," Draco chuckled.

Hermione raised a brow questioningly.

"Believe it or not, I've actually heard you do that some times in the Great Hall at breakfast when I go early," Draco replied nonchalantly, shrugging and leaning on the balcony railing.

Hermione felt her blood pulsing in her veins. She ignored it. "What're you doing up here?" she asked him.

"I could ask you the same," Draco replied, turning and leaning against the balcony railing, facing Hermione.

Hermione snorted and moved to stand beside him, resting her arms on the balcony railing and looking out. "Well, I had wanted to go to the library originally, but I found myself coming up here. Is that reason good enough for you?" she explained.

Draco tilted his head back slightly as he laughed and nodded. "Ok. To answer your question, I'm up here because I needed a place to think. And I usually come up here, anyway. It's nice and empty…usually," he added, narrowing his eyes at her.

Hermione chuckled, "Sorry for disrupting your peace, I guess. If you'd like me to leave, I can do that. I still intend to go to the library, anyway."

"No, stay. It's nice to have someone I can talk to. Really talk to, instead of just changing the subject to themselves all the time," Draco said, and his eyes flashed with slight annoyance. Hermione knew he was probably thinking about Pansy, who had a tendency to start talking about her own little 'troubles' which usually were about how her hair didn't look good, or her robes had creases in them.

Hermione smiled. "So…what'd you come up to think about?" she prompted, turning her head to face him.

Draco groaned and tilted his head back, eyes closed. "Everything, I guess. Blaise is pissed off at me about the Quidditch practice, and that's hardly my fault since _he_ left the bloody broom with me, and _he's_ late for practice sometimes too and _I_ never yell at him in front of the whole team. I've got my Charms exam coming up in a few days, and I haven't studied. There's this new second-year kid who wants the place of Chaser on the team, and he's a pretty good flyer, just doesn't have the abilities of a Chaser. Blaise says I should let him in, since I'm Quidditch Captain and all. But I really don't know. Maybe I should give this kid more practices. I've got a Transfiguration essay due tomorrow, and I'm hardly half done. And to top things off, I can hardly seem to pay attention in class anymore because all I – " Draco stopped himself from carrying on his heated rant, and he let out a distressed noise, again tilting his head back.

Hermione noticed how, whenever he did that, the sunlight set his blonde hair aflame and it looked amazing. But she ignored that. "…And why can't you pay attention in class anymore?" Hermione asked, hoping his answer would be the same as her reason why _she_ couldn't pay attention in class either.

Draco shook his head. "I…It's better not to say," he ended abruptly.

"Well I was hoping that…well, I've been having the same problems. I can't pay attention in class. Snape caught me off-guard today during Potions," Hermione began slowly.

Draco looked up at her, and their gazes locked, Hermione looking down at him as his head was tilted back. They gazed into each other's eyes for what felt like ages, until Draco broke eye contact and said, "Well, I should get going. Blaise wants me to go practice Quidditch on my own 'cause I missed out just now." Draco heaved himself up and started walking off.

Hermione's eyes followed him as he climbed down the stairs of the Astronomy Tower, and disappeared from sight. She continued standing at the balcony for several seconds, a warm sensation filling her up.

Then a thought entered her mind and she hurried down the steps of the Astronomy Tower, towards the Quidditch pitch.

_Did she have the same problem as me? Was she unable to concentrate in class, because she was thinking of me? Why can't I keep thoughts of her out of my head? _Draco continued walking down to the Quidditch pitch, broom in his hand. He couldn't help but wonder if Hermione was thinking about him, too, and if she couldn't stop thinking about him either. _No, that's just wishful thinking. Why in the world would Hermione Granger be thinking of me? She's got her studies to think about. _

Draco shoved thoughts of Hermione to the back of his mind as he reached the pitch. Blaise had left the box of Quidditch balls by the side of the pitch and Draco released the snitch. After a couple of seconds, he shot up into the air, a good thirty metres, and sat on his broom, keen eyes searching for the tiny golden thing. He heard a whizzing sound and whipped around. There it was. Zooming around just a few feet away.

He chased after it with great agility, swiftly avoiding the stands and the hoops at sharp angles. Engrossed in rocketing after the snitch, Draco didn't notice there was actually someone standing at the side of the pitch when the snitch whizzed past there. And right when he felt his hand close around the small golden ball…

"_Oof_-!" the person grunted as Draco crashed into her too fast for her to react and dodge him.

Draco hung on to his broom as it flipped twice in the air, but he regained his balance and slowed down. He landed and dismounted his broom. One hand holding his broom and the other the snitch, he stumbled over to the person he knocked into, dazed.

"Sorry," he mumbled, his vision blurry and spinning. He could vaguely see a figure hunching over, clutching her stomach and coughing. Violently.

"Are. You. _Crazy_?" the person gasped in between coughs.

"…Hermione?" Draco asked, his speech slightly slurred, as he recognized her voice.

"Yes, it's me you idiot," she continued, still coughing, though not as bad now. Draco's vision slowed down and became clearer.

"Sorry," he said again, this time feeling more guilty, "Do you need to go to Madam Pomfrey?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, I'll be fine after a while…"

"What were you doing down here anyway?" Draco asked.

"What's wrong with wanting to come down and watch you practice?" Hermione asked, and Draco thought he saw her blush a bit.

Draco chuckled. "I never said that…thanks for coming to watch me, anyway. Always nice to know I've got support."

Hermione smiled. "You're welcome. By the way, could I um…" she began, looking as if she wanted to ask him something.

"…yeah?" Draco asked.

Hermione looked down uncomfortably at her feet. "Um, could I, perhaps, borrow your Charms textbook for a few hours? I seem to have lost mine…" Hermione asked uncertainly.

"Lost it?" Draco asked, curious as to how Hermione could have actually _lost_ something.

"If you don't want to, it's ok," Hermione added quickly.

"Nah, it's fine, just wondering how you lost it? I mean, you hardly lose stuff, do you?" Draco inquired, amused.

"I was in my common room studying yesterday and I got…er…distracted…" Hermione avoided Draco's gaze as she said this, "And I left it somewhere, I just can't recall where."

Draco nodded and chuckled, "Alright, follow me to my common room, I'll lend you mine." Draco began to walk off, expecting Hermione to follow him.

"But I can't go into your common room!" Hermione protested.

As Draco turned to face her, he could tell she was worried. She was a prefect, and she probably didn't feel it was right to go into another house's common room.

"It's alright, really. No one questions me," Draco added, a slight bit haughtily.

"Ok, then…" Hermione agreed, slightly uncertain and reluctant, and followed Draco as he led her to his common room.


	5. Five hours or so

**Chapter 5 – Five hours or so**

As the two of them walked for quite some time, along different corridors and down flights of stairs, (the whole time Hermione being led by Draco, as she hadn't a clue where the Slytherin common room was) they reached a point where Draco halted.

Just when Draco was about to utter the password to enter his common room, he saw Hermione quite a distance away. "Hermione…what are you doing there?" Draco asked, slightly exasperated.

"I don't want to overhear your password," Hermione answered.

Draco rolled his eyes in amusement. "Oh come on, it's not like you'll be saying the password and barging into the Slytherin common room every other day to plant traps, are you?" Draco asked.

"For all you know, I may! Why aren't you scared at all of someone from another house knowing the password to your common room?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Because I trust you," Draco said simply.

Hermione smiled and walked to stand beside him, "Thanks."

Draco smiled back and uttered the password to the common room.

They stepped into the empty common room, and Draco heard Hermione let out a sigh of relief.

"Come on hurry, we gotta get it before your housemates come back," Hermione urged Draco agitatedly.

Draco snorted, "They won't be back so soon. Probably off pigging out at the Great Hall or something."

Hermione, though she wasn't completely assured by this, was more at ease.

Draco brought Hermione up to his dorm, on the highest level. The only occupants of this dorm were Draco and Crabbe, who hardly slept there anymore; he usually hogged the downstairs couch in the common room.

"Hold on," Draco muttered as he ransacked his trunk for his Charms textbook. From the corner of his eye, he could see Hermione looking around.

"Your dorm is really big," she suddenly said in wonder, taking in the couch by the side and study table nearby it, "Though it's a bit dark…"

Draco pulled out his Charms textbook. "Yeah, it's usually lit by candlelight. And aren't your dorms just as big?" he asked, handing her the textbook.

"Thanks," Hermione said as she took the textbook from him, and she shook her head, "No, our dorms just have many beds. No couch or study table."

"Oh. If I had to stay in the same room with more people…" Draco shuddered, "Can't stand it. Don't really like crowds."

Hermione nodded and she asked, "By the way, do you need help with your Transfigurations essay?"

Draco felt relief warm him. He'd forgotten about the essay momentarily. He nodded. "Thanks. I see why Harry and Ron are such good friends with you, it's an advantage being friends with someone smart," he joked.

Hermione playfully hit him with the textbook. "Well come on, then. Get your essay, I'll help you with it," Hermione said, walking over to the study table which, thankfully, was beside a window.

Draco easily found his essay and his quill and ink. He took his seat beside Hermione.

In a mere half-hour later, Draco's essay was done.

"Thanks, Hermione!" Draco exclaimed, amazed that he'd actually finished half an essay in half an hour; he usually took an hour or two.

Hermione beamed, "Welcome."

Draco got up and put his now-done essay, quill and ink back into his trunk.

When he stood up and turned around, he saw Hermione with a tense expression on her face as she clutched his Charms textbook.

"What's wrong?" Draco inquired.

"Draco, I think…I think your housemates are back," Hermione told him, and he listened closely. He could hear noise and laughter drifting up from the common room. She was right. They were back.

"I'll follow you down," Draco offered.

Hermione shook her head. "Could we wait till dinner and they clear off? I really don't want them to see me here, Draco, please," Hermione pleaded, and Draco saw her subconsciously feel her prefect badge.

After a second or two, Draco nodded. "Alright, but don't blame me if you miss your evening or afternoon classes."

"I honestly am quite content with skipping Divinations," Hermione admitted.

Draco laughed. "Ok…so for the next five hours or so, what do you intend to do, cooped up in here?" he asked, raising a brow.

"Study Charms, of course!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Typical Hermione," Draco laughed, "Do you need any writing materials?"

"No, I'm fine just reading the textbook," Hermione smiled, and walked back to the study table, opening the textbook and beginning to absorb its information.

Draco sat on the couch, silently admiring how the soft sunlight streaming in through the window hit Hermione's hair and face, making its features look incredibly stunning.

Draco didn't know how much time had passed when she finally looked up from her studying, and he finally took his eyes off her.

"What time is it, Draco?" she asked, facing him.

He checked his watch. "Quarter past six. Forty-five more minutes to dinner," he answered, realizing they'd actually just sat there, Hermione studying and Draco gazing at her, for around four hours.

Hermione sighed in relief. "Great…only forty-five minutes more, then. Hey, say could you test me? I really wanna revise what I just learnt," Hermione asked, moving to sit next to Draco and passing him the textbook.

"What, seriously? Do you have to be such a nerd?" Draco joked, but he took the textbook anyway. "Ok first question, what are the negative effects of Duro on a wand made of White Pine?"

For the next fifteen minutes, Draco continued to bombard Hermione with questions, and she would answer them in an instant, until basically almost the whole textbook was tested. Draco shut the textbook and checked his watch again.

"6.30. Half an hour more," Draco told her.

"If only time would pass faster…I'm really getting hungry," Hermione complained.

"Well, I've no food up here, so I guess you'll just have to wait," Draco said, reaching back and placing the textbook on the study table.

It was getting darker. Draco noticed this because the features of Hermione's face were becoming less and less pronounced, making her look soft and gentle.

_What in Merlin's beard am I thinking? What am I doing? This is crazy. What's gotten into me lately? This is bloody not what I'm supposed to be doing. Admiring Granger? Oh for goodness sakes…_

But Draco found himself edging closer and closer to Hermione, not noticing, though, that she too was doing the same to him.

Draco paused as he eventually realized this, inches from her face. He was so close he could feel her breath. Draco was becoming short of breath. Hermione's eyes closed and she leaned in towards him.

Their lips met, and Draco closed his eyes as well.

His head screamed at him not to do what he was about to do, but he ignored it. Draco returned the kiss.

He slowly moved one hand up to her hair, her soft, luscious hair, and she put her hands around his neck.


End file.
